As of this morning, a historic 106 openly gay candidates have been elected to office this year.

Landmark victories included that of Marcus Brandon — who, as state representative, will be North Carolina's second openly gay elected official — and Jim Gray, who beat an incumbent to become mayor of Lexington, Kentucky. Laurie Jinkins, elected to the Washington State House, is the stat's firs lesbian lawmaker. In Connecticut, Ken Lembo became the only openly gay candidates to win a statewide race when he was elected state comptroller. And, having been elected judge on the Superior Court of Alameda County, California, Victoria Kolakowski becomes the nation's first transgender trial court judge.

In sum, says Chuck Wolfe, president of The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, "This is the tipping point election for openly-gay candidates...We're proving that qualified, well-prepared candidates matched with committed donors means gays and lesbians can move from having a stake in policy to actually making policy. There's no reason to sit on the sidelines with our fingers crossed anymore."